Author
Topic: S/O Locked topic - can we see why? (Read 54985 times)

YogaChick

I'm just thinking.....we're all adults here, right? So, wouldn't it be safe to assume that, as long as no one's being intentionally rude or offensive, it just might be a good idea to assume the best of everyone?

In a perfect world, yes. Until someone PMs the mod who has the audacity to lock a thread and tell her what a jerk she is, has the brains of a flea, no sense of humor, doesn't know what she's doing. Etc etc etc etc. Trust me, it gets old.

Yeah, we're all adults here, but not everyone plays well together.

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I have a thread in the Rich and Famous folder that just got locked today. I would have tried to send a PM to the moderator to ask why, (best guess is that's it's too gossipy) but I honestly can't figure out who the moderator is. (Different from the Admin, right?)

In a perfect world, yes. Until someone PMs the mod who has the audacity to lock a thread and tell her what a jerk she is, has the brains of a flea, no sense of humor, doesn't know what she's doing. Etc etc etc etc. Trust me, it gets old.

And do people who do that get to stay on the forum? Rudeness to a mod seems like a banning offence to me.

In a perfect world, yes. Until someone PMs the mod who has the audacity to lock a thread and tell her what a jerk she is, has the brains of a flea, no sense of humor, doesn't know what she's doing. Etc etc etc etc. Trust me, it gets old.

And do people who do that get to stay on the forum? Rudeness to a mod seems like a banning offence to me.

I think we've all had to deal with rude PM's at some point or another. I dont see the mods as any less able to handle it than anyone else, kwim? Like, it's one of those "roll your eyes at the ignoramus that cant express himself in an adult-like manner..."

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Don't want to keep harping on this topic but I wondered if there is anyway to tell which mod locked the thread (where they haven't posted on it)? Then if you have a query, you can PM the specific mod, rather than picking one at random.

Don't want to keep harping on this topic but I wondered if there is anyway to tell which mod locked the thread (where they haven't posted on it)? Then if you have a query, you can PM the specific mod, rather than picking one at random.

It's not the wisest move to contact a mod and ask why the thread was locked.

A much better bet would be to contact someone who was posting in the thread who is also a long time poster and ask them to explain it to you.

Other than that, you can reread the forum rules--usually you'll find the reason there.

And if it is someone else's thread, mods will usually lock it if requested by the OP and no reason is needed.

Don't want to keep harping on this topic but I wondered if there is anyway to tell which mod locked the thread (where they haven't posted on it)? Then if you have a query, you can PM the specific mod, rather than picking one at random.

It's not the wisest move to contact a mod and ask why the thread was locked.

A much better bet would be to contact someone who was posting in the thread who is also a long time poster and ask them to explain it to you.

Other than that, you can reread the forum rules--usually you'll find the reason there.

And if it is someone else's thread, mods will usually lock it if requested by the OP and no reason is needed.

Well, it's not that I want to dispute it or anything - I'm pretty sure my thread was locked because it had started to get lengthy, everything that could be said about the etiquette of the situation had been said and it was veering off topic, getting ever so slightly heated in the process.

However, the original situation I posted about is ongoing and I anticipate needing more help and advice going forward. But I didn't want to start a new thread on the same subject without checking, in case it was locked due to the subject matter or something else that was perhaps not obvious to me.

Don't want to keep harping on this topic but I wondered if there is anyway to tell which mod locked the thread (where they haven't posted on it)? Then if you have a query, you can PM the specific mod, rather than picking one at random.

It's not the wisest move to contact a mod and ask why the thread was locked.

A much better bet would be to contact someone who was posting in the thread who is also a long time poster and ask them to explain it to you.

Other than that, you can reread the forum rules--usually you'll find the reason there.

And if it is someone else's thread, mods will usually lock it if requested by the OP and no reason is needed.

I disagree with this. I think if you re-read the rules and still can't figure it out it is fine to ask a mod. You need to be respectful about it and assume there is a good reason, but I don't think any of the mods would be upset to receive a nice note asking for some insight. Now, if you wrote to them saying that you think they were idiots and how could anyone possibly shut down the thread then that's a problem.

Most of the time it's obvious. When it isn't, I can't see an issue with asking a mod for clarification. Yes, someone with more experience on the forum may have a better guess about why a thread was shut down than a new person, but they still aren't privy to the discussions that the mods have behind the scenes.

I disagree about PMing a mod. I PMed a mod recently to ask why a thread was locked. The mod politely explained why, and the reason made sense to me. It seemed almost obvious, actually, though I didn't have the faintest clue why the thread was locked before I asked the mod.

In my experience if you ask politely, the mods are very receptive. I appreciate the fact that this mod took the time to reply to one of who knows how many PMs from one of a thousand Ehellions.

Having the reason written down really helps me understand and learn not to repeat a mistake. I learned quite a bit from my PMs with the moderator. I feel that a short explanation would be very informative and useful. (Some mods already do this, and I really appreciate that.)

Ehelldame mentioned upthread that sometimes the reason a thread is locked is none of our beeswax. I respect that. In that case, it makes sense not to post a reason. But in instances where a thread is locked due to people being impolite to each other, thread going off topic, not enough etiquette in the discussion (for non-Coffee Break threads), legal or medical advice or venting, then I think it would be helpful to say why.

I think it would save the mods time in the end for two reasons. Indirectly, because people will learn from these notes and will be less likely to make the same mistake. Directly because someone who has once had a thread locked with a note at the end that says "Locked due to venting" will be very thoughtful before posting a thread that could be venting. The mistake will be less likely to happen from the same person due to positive, passive peer pressure. (Did not actually alliterate on purpose, but I like it. )

I think I started this thread way back, so Nurvingiel, I agree with you.

If there's a non of your business reason, it is probably personal to a poster and will be unlikely to occur again, but if not, I want to make sure that I don't repeat a mistake and cause more work for a mod in the future.

I'm not sure why it wouldn't be "wise" to PM a mod to ask? What's the worst that can happen provided you're polite? They are too busy or choose not to respond and you're no worse off, or they tell you. Is there some kind of ramifications we don't know about for PM'ng a mod that makes it unwise?

I think I started this thread way back, so Nurvingiel, I agree with you.

If there's a non of your business reason, it is probably personal to a poster and will be unlikely to occur again, but if not, I want to make sure that I don't repeat a mistake and cause more work for a mod in the future.

I'm not sure why it wouldn't be "wise" to PM a mod to ask? What's the worst that can happen provided you're polite? They are too busy or choose not to respond and you're no worse off, or they tell you. Is there some kind of ramifications we don't know about for PM'ng a mod that makes it unwise?

i've never had any negative ramifications when pm'ng a mod for any reason whatsoever. i have always found them to be extremely helpful. that might have something to do with the fact that a few of the times when i've been called on my behavior, i have made sure to apologize quickly and sincerely. by the same token, i have also, on very rare occasions, pm'd a mod who shut down what looked to be a situation rapidly getting out of hand to thank them, even if i wasn't a part of the thread. it certainly doesn't hurt to express appreciation for the hard work our mods put in here on our behalf, imo.

i do agree that it can be helpful to know why a thread has been locked if the reason isn't obvious. it does help to not make the same mistake. but then, if the reason is nunya, i don't want to know. i just don't do gossip or drama.

I think a lot of the concern about wondering why threads were locked comes from the fear that we personally have done something to get the thread locked. At least, that's always a little bit on my mind, personally. Is it my fault the thread was locked and now the mods will be watching for more mistakes and eventually I'll be banned for something I didn't even know was wrong?

So, is it safe to assume that if a particular poster's actions cause a thread to be locked, that particular poster has been notified either in the thread itself or in a PM? If we all knew that for sure, that if we weren't notified about our actions the closing of the thread was not our fault, I think there would be a lot fewer problems with wondering why a thread was locked.

I think it's safe to say that we all want to follow the rules, whatever they happen to be, and we just want to know if we are not following them, so we can keep the forum as it was intended.